Social Media Trends For 2023

Predicting the future of social media marketing is always fun. The sector is changing almost every day, with new utilities and tools being rolled out, adding more ways to connect, track and maximize your online marketing performance. 

However, there is a content overload on social media, and the competition is very high. It can be complex or challenging for you to stand out unless you have a clear social media marketing plan or strategy. Staying updated on the latest social media trends can help fuel your strategy/plan and make you stand out in the crowd. In the meantime, here are 10 of the most important social media trends that you need to be aware of for 2023 and beyond.

1. AI IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Futuristic films made it seem that the rise of machines would be the doom of man’s autonomy on Earth reducing his usefulness to the mercy of ‘robots’. Recent coverage of this revolutionary development in tech has indicated a much brighter side of the spectrum – AI used as a tool can empower anyone who embraces it. There’s no reason for social media managers and content creators to get left behind; so it’s that important that they’re aware of the implications of AI.

Engagement, targeted online ads, copy, design, research and marketing strategy, and reporting are just a few of the key tasks it takes to create or manage social media successfully. Projected to grow to more than $2.1 billion by 2023, the AI for social media market is booming! Taking advantage of AI’s rapid predictive accuracy can accelerate revenue, reduce cost and time and optimize your social media marketing efforts:

• Rapidly finding the accurate keywords
• Generating and scaling content creation
• Discovering new and targeting relevant audiences with optimized Ads
• Social media monitoring and listening
• Better analytics as it collects and is trained by more data

Where time and resources are of the essence in social media marketing, why wouldn’t you take advantage of this tool?

Top AI tools to explore in marketing are:

• ChatGPT – for copywriting
• Dall-E – for Design
• Canva – Magic Write for Copy
• And here are a few more

If the thought of AI threatens you, don’t let it. Those who learn how to use AI to do the heavy lifting will thrive in 2023. AI still has a long way to go before you’re out of a job, at this point in time it can help you do 10X more work, at a higher level of quality. You just have to add personality to the copywriting, as it can be very dull.

2. TikTok IS KEY

While Instagram is still a firm favourite, TikTok is moving up in the ranks. Plus, considering that short-form video content will become more popular, TikTok is the ideal platform to use in 2023. TikTok has also launched several valuable tools, like ads and business profiles explicitly aimed at businesses during the past two years. So, it’s no longer just a platform where young creators can show off their latest dance moves. All in all, it’s set to become one of the main platforms that brands can use to reach millennials and Gen Z.

3. SMALLER NETWORKS WILL BECOME POPULAR FOR ADS

TikTok isn’t the only “new platform” that’s catching the attention of consumers and brands. Quest, PearPop, Yubo, Supernova and more mean that you are no longer confined to the big five social media platforms, but finding smaller, niched audiences where the content is high in authenticity means that brands have the opportunity to engage with audiences where they prefer to be found. 

4. SOCIAL COMMERCE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE

Brands have long used social media like Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook to sell their products. This year, though, the ability to buy products directly via social media will become a model. Gone are the days that it will be used only by innovative brands. In fact, eMarketer anticipates that the social commerce industry will be worth $80 billion by 2025. Social networks are continuously evolving from shoppable posts to Instagram Storefronts to become retail platforms. Brands and marketers will continue to leverage these and incorporate social commerce in their sales strategies in 2023. So, when designing your user experience, be sure to give some serious thought to this, even if it’s only for your most popular items. Nevertheless, your goal should be to create a frictionless shopping experience and having to switch to a website when browsing social media might just soon become one too many clicks for your target audience.

5. REACHING NEW AUDIENCES WILL BECOME A PRIMARY GOAL

According to research completed by HubSpot, the main social media goals of most marketers this year will be to reach new audiences, grow relationships with customers, and boost customer service. These goals focused more on boosting sales and advertising products in the past. So, it’s anticipated that there will be a clear shift in how brands will use social media moving forward. Instead of using it purely for advertising, it will also be used as a channel for deeper customer relations.

6. VIDEO CONTENT WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE

Video content remains one of the most engaging forms of content. Of all online, 82% of content will be video content by this year, that’s according to a Cisco study. This clearly shows how important it is to start utilizing video content to stay relevant in the social media domain. If you’re not currently creating videos, it’s time that you include them in your content strategy. In the near future, videos will dominate social media and anyone who doesn’t realize that will have a tough time. What is important to keep in mind for the future, though? Is that long-form content is no longer the way to go? You simply have to look at the success of Stories, Reels and TikTok to realize that engaging short-form videos are the preferred choice of consumers.

7. SOCIAL AUDIO WILL BECOME MORE POPULAR

Twitter Spaces is a way to have live audio conversations on Twitter. Anyone can join, listen, and speak in a Space on Twitter for iOS and Android, which might be the nail in the coffin for Clubhouse, which launched in 2020, it has become increasingly popular. In June last year, Facebook followed suit by officially launching its Live Audio Rooms and Podcasts in the US. And, brands are taking notice. More than 74% of businesses indicated in Hootsuite’s 2022 Social Media Trends survey that they’re planning to invest in audio-only content in the next year. The same survey revealed that hosting an audio live stream as a thought leader was the most popular strategy.

That being said, at this stage, the trend has not yet caught the attention of many businesses, especially considering that it’s not the most affordable form of content marketing. It might only be an audio clip, but there’s still a lot of time and expertise that go into creating audio content.

8. PAID ADVERTISING WILL BECOME NECESSARY

More than 40% of respondents indicated that the decline in organic reach and the need to spend more on paid advertising were their biggest challenges ( that’s according to Hootsuite’s 2022 Social Media Trends survey). Considering that the average organic reach for a Facebook post is just slightly over 5%, according to Hootsuite data, it makes sense why paid advertising will be necessary.

9. AUGMENTED REALITY WILL BECOME MORE MAINSTREAM

Social media will see a rise in the adoption of technologies like augmented reality (AR)  and virtual reality(VR). As these platforms grow, users will demand better and more engaging experiences, and these technologies can make that happen. While VR adoption in social media might still be at an early stage, the same can’t be said for AR. Augmented reality filters are now being used on several major platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. These were introduced to enhance the visual content shared on social media and are widely popular. 

Augmented reality enhances our reality by adding digital elements to it and changing the way things actually look. Social media platforms have found interesting use cases for this technology and started leveraging it nowadays. Instagram, for example, uses augmented reality for its numerous photo filters. We’ve all seen those filters that can add makeup to your face or sunglasses or bunny ears, right? Maybe too many of those posts already. That’s nothing but an application of augmented reality for social media.

These applications of AR on social media are not limited just to photo filters to post fun posts and stories. Brands can also leverage augmented reality to provide better shopping experiences to their customers. It’s becoming more common for brands to use AR so that people can try out products beforehand. However, according to The Drum, AR can boost click-through rates by as much as 33%.

Augmented reality can have a lot of potential social media applications for brands. And this trend will be further driven by social media platforms’ continuous effort to add more AR functionalities. This technology is definitely only set to grow in the next few years.

10. INCREASE IN THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

Social media has traditionally been a place for people to connect with their social networks and share photos and videos. However, those days are long gone, and social media is now so much more than just that.

Brands have to stop seeing their social media platforms as the domain of marketing, and blend their social media marketing and customer support… because your customers don’t draw the same lines you create with internal structures.

BONUS TREND: INFLUENCER MARKETING WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP

Influencer marketing isn’t a new trend, but it’s one that is changing as consumers and brands grow weary of the same-old-same-old low-authenticity posts.

Brands are partnering with content creators and allowing them to create content that is relevant to their micro audiences, thereby creating content that is unique, engaging, and relevant: a win-win.

Marketers are no longer just collaborating with 1-2 influencers now but are working with a whole network of small, relevant niche influencers. This kind of influencer gets much higher engagement and costs much less. Going forward, more and more marketers will use this strategy and work with multiple smaller influencers instead of a celebrity.

Social media marketing is entering a new era, which is increasingly being driven by technological developments. In order to accommodate these new technologies, brands need to build a cohesive marketing technology stack.

The good news is that social media marketing technology is advancing at a fast pace to meet the demands for more innovative, more integrated, cross-platform and machine learning-enhanced marketing software. The web is getting faster and engaging the customer is getting even more challenging. The answer to this lies in building a cross-platform presence and utilizing aggregated data from all channels for an advanced understanding of your market.